1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates, in general, to a fuel pump module installed in a fuel tank and controlling the supply of fuel from the fuel tank to an internal combustion engine and, more particularly, to a fuel pump module, which partitions the interior of a reservoir into a fuel charging area B for charging the reservoir with the fuel flowing from a fuel tank, and a fuel suction area A for sucking the fuel from the fuel charging area B using a fuel pump, thus preventing foreign substances from being introduced from the fuel charging area B into the fuel suction area A thereby supplying clean fuel to the internal combustion engine.
2. Description of the Related Art
Although when a vehicle using liquid fuel, such as gasoline or diesel, is at a tilt at the angle of the road and thereby fuel filled in a fuel tank leans to one side or when the vehicle is low on fuel so that there is an insufficient amount of fuel in the fuel tank, a predetermined amount of fuel must be supplied to an internal combustion engine at a constant rate. In an effort to achieve this function, a fuel pump module is installed in the fuel tank.
FIGS. 1 and 2 are views illustrating examples of conventional fuel pump modules. FIG. 1 illustrates a fuel pump module, which injects fuel returning from an internal combustion engine into a reservoir so that the fuel stored in the fuel tank can be charged into the reservoir by the fuel jet functioning as an actuating fluid. FIG. 2 illustrates another type of fuel pump module, which directly injects the fuel pumped by a fuel pump into the reservoir so that the fuel stored in the fuel tank can be charged into the reservoir by the fuel jet functioning as an actuating fluid.
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the fuel pump module 110 includes a reservoir 120 that has a container shape and is charged with a predetermined amount of fuel, a fuel pump 140 installed in the reservoir 120 that pumps the fuel from the reservoir 120 into an internal combustion engine 170 at a constant rate, a jet pump 150 for injecting the fuel into the reservoir 120 so that the fuel stored in a fuel tank 100 can be guided into the reservoir 120 by the fuel jet injected by the jet pump 150, and a guide tube 160 installed on the jet pump 150 which allows the fuel introduced into the reservoir 120 by the jet pump 150 to be charged into the reservoir 120.
In the fuel pump module 110, the jet pump 150 injects the fuel into the reservoir 120 which allows the fuel stored in the fuel tank 100 to be introduced into the reservoir 120. Here, the jet pump 150 may inject the fuel returning from the internal combustion engine 170 in the reservoir 120, as shown in FIG. 1, or may pump the fuel stored in the fuel tank 100 and injects the fuel into the reservoir 120, as shown in FIG. 2.
Because the fuel is injected into the reservoir 120 at a high injection speed by the jet pump 150, the flow velocity around the jet pump 150 increases, but pressure around the pump 150 is reduced, so that the fuel stored in the fuel tank 100 is naturally introduced to the jet pump 150 and the fuel introduced to the jet pump 150 in the above state is guided into the reservoir 120.
The fuel introduced into the reservoir 120 by the jet pump 150 flows along the guide tube 160 installed on the jet pump 150 up to the height of the guide tube 160, and is charged into the reservoir 120.
The fuel is charged into the reservoir 120 by the above-mentioned process and is supplied to the internal combustion engine 170 by the fuel pump 140 at a constant rate.
However, because the fuel pump module 110 is installed at a location close to the bottom of the fuel tank 100, foreign substances 190 present in the fuel tank 100 may be introduced into the reservoir 120 along the fuel during the process of introducing the fuel from the fuel tank 100 into the reservoir 120.
The foreign substances introduced into the reservoir 120 cannot be discharged from the fuel pump module 110 due to the structure of the fuel pump module 110, but collect over time in the reservoir 120, and perturb the fuel suction and fuel supply operation of the fuel pump 140, thereby reducing the performance of the fuel pump module 110 including the fuel pump 140.
Due to the foreign substances, there may not be a constant supply of fuel to the internal combustion engine 170, thus reducing the fuel consumption ratio and causing operational problems in the internal combustion engine 170. Further, the foreign substances may cause the internal combustion engine to suddenly stop while the vehicle runs, and may cause the vehicle to be in a serious traffic accident.